Plymouth ZBA Sends Cherry Street Gas Station Back for Aquifer Line Redesign

PLYMOUTH — May 18, 2026 — Plymouth ZBA continues contested Cherry Street gas station case amid aquifer boundary dispute. The Plymouth Zoning Board of Appeals voted unanimously on May 18 to continue Case 4198, a special permit application by TL Edwards Company for a gas station and 4,999-square-foot convenience store at 360 Cherry Street, to June 15, 2026, after three independent engineering firms produced three conflicting conclusions about whether the proposed fueling infrastructure falls within the town's Aquifer Protection Overlay District. The Plymouth-Carver Sole Source Aquifer serves an estimated 200,000 people; hydrogeologist John Castrinos of Haley and Aldrich testified that under current USGS modeling and Kingston's 2025 well-pumping rates, "the fueling infrastructure, in fact, would fall within the aquifer protection overlay district." Attorney Harley Racer, representing abutter Energy North Incorporated, called approval "clear error of law" under Section 206.1 of Plymouth's zoning bylaws. Board members David Peck and Edward Conroy said they would not vote to approve unless the applicant returned with plans relocating the fueling footprint measurably further from the APOD line, while Building Commissioner Jason Sylvia said the town's review of the delineation and drainage design follows the same precedent applied to the Amazon, Tremel Crow, and Hyundai projects. In a separate vote of 4-1, the board denied without prejudice a special permit for William Smith of 359 Lunds Way, who had already poured a foundation for a 30-by-30-foot metal arch-style accessory building before filing for a permit, citing an inadequate plot plan that omitted existing structures, the driveway, septic location, and drainage design.